Holiday on the Namibian coast

In 1994 we moved back to South Africa after a 13 year stay in Walvis Bay , Namibia. They say once the fine Namibian sand gets into your heart, there is no way you'll get it out again. For us there are other contributing factors: it is where Desmond and I bought our first house, Namibia  is where our children were born and as we had no Namibian family our friends became our family and support.

We tend to come for a holiday in either Swakopmund or Walvis Bay every 2 to 3 years and this December we did a home exchange with  friends who live on the Walvis Bay lagoon, not far from  'our' house. Once again Desmond could carry his windsurfer across the Esplenade road and take off over the lagoon. We felt that we slotted right back into Walvis Bay life as if we never left : buying our daily 'brotchen' at Probst, going for a seafood feast at Anchors, going shopping in Swakopmund, meeting with friends for dinner or coffee...

Even though December and January is very hot in the interior, the weather is super on the coast - summer holiday weather at it's best. Mornings often appear overcast, but it is only a high mist which will disappear at about 11 am, so be very careful to put on sunscreen every morning because your skin can burn even though the sun is not out yet. We are amazed by the development in both Walvis Bay and Swakopmund. Tourism is the third biggest industry (after fishing and mining) and it shows.




My 'must see / must do' list for Walvis Bay:
1. Take an early morning walk along the Eplenade to watch the flamingos dance while they feed - the Walvis Bay lagoon is  a birders paradise: Flamingos, Cormorants, Pelicans,  White Chinned Petrel, Wilson’s Storm Petrel,  Cape Gannet,  Black Oystercatcher.  We were lucky enough to even see dolphins!
2. Go on  a morning kayak trip on the lagoon with Naude and Katya Dreyer's company Pelican Point Kayaking.
3. Book a kite surfing or windsurfing lesson at the equipment hiring kiosk just behind the 'Raft' for the afternoon when the wind will come up (this is Walvis Bay we're talking about!)
4. Go for an afternoon cocktail at one of the watering spots on the rustic waterfront and for the BEST seafood EVER: the one and only Anchors...
5. Do not miss the little art gallery on top of the gift shop . I love the photography of Megan Dreyer
6. Go on a guided 4 wheel trip into the dunes.
7. Or book a 4X4 trip down to Sandwich Harbour and the Namib dunes.
8. Go on a catarmaran trip with Mola-Mola Safaris.

9. Climb Dune

10. Go fishing.

Lavender Garden

We initially planted a rose garden in front of the house ,but because of the huge  trees in front of the house, the ground is quite dry and they did very poorly. The lavender can cope with the dry and poor soil and gives off the most amazing scent as you walk through the path toward the front door.Desmond replaces lavender that becomes too woody and he does feed it with slow release fertilizer two to three times a year - especially the two flower beds that are closer to the Australian Gums.

There is such a lot to do with lavender flowers: I love making small posies using lavender and roses ; I also tie small bunches on a ribbon and hang it in the wardrobes or I tie it around the bath taps and it give off its perfume as the hot water runs over it. Ten sprigs of  lavender in about 500 gram of castor sugar gives you a delicious lavender sugar (I sprinkle it on French Toast which I then serve with bacon; garnished with a lavender flower)

We also planted lavender in below the swimming pool. This is a very sunny spot and they thrive here.

Lavender Jelly

You will need: 1 kg tart apples, 1 cup of lavender flowers, 500 ml water, 30 ml cider vinegar, sugar.

1. Chop the apples coarsely (with skin , core and pips) Place in a pot.

2. Add the lavender flowers along with 500 ml water and boil uncovered until the fruit is soft.

3. Add 30 ml cider vinegar and boil another 3  minutes

4. Strain the layers through a double layer of muslin or cheese cloth (do not be tempted to stir or press to help the process along as this will cause a milky jelly)

5. For every 250 ml strained liquid add 200 ml sugar. Now put the strained sugar liquid into a saucepan and heat slowly, stirring gently until the sugar has dissolved. Once all the sugar has been dissolved, turn up the heat and boil rapidly for about 20 minutes. It should now become jelly-like.

6. Remove from the heat, skim the surface if foam has formed, test by putting a drop on a saucer and put it in the fridge for a few minutes to see if it sets. Pour into sterilized jars and seal.



Lavender Shortbread

You will need: 250 ml cake flour , 250 ml self-raising flour , 250 ml cornflour , 250 ml lavender infused icing sugar , 250 gram butter , 25 ml finely chopped lavender leaves , more lavender sugar for dusting.

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees celcius

2. Sift the dry ingredients together.

3. Rub in the butter, then add the lavender leaves. Combine well and press onto a greased baking sheet. Poke little holes into the shortbread with a fork and bake for 25 minutes until golden brown.

4. Remove from the oven and cut into finger biscuits. Dust with lavender sugar and garnish with lavender flowers once cool.

when one is two and two is one and when things go wrong, they go wrong

Last Saturday evening we went to bed early as we only had one couple staying – only to be cruelly awoken at 11.45 by the gate bell being rung – repeatedly…  As I have a slight hearing impairment the bell is set to ring very loudly and to discourage people from ringing it repeatedly it is also set to ring loudly at the gate. Desmond went down to open the gate as we could see that these people were not taking no answer for an answer.

To my surprise I could hear that he was actually booking them in – we normally, as a security measure, do not take off-street  bookings after hours. It transpired that they had made an online booking earlier and for some reason the text message notification never came through on my mobile phone, so I did not know about their arrival as I  never checked my computer between returning from a late afternoon movie, making dinner and retiring early. That they did not think it unacceptable to book in nearly midnight without prior arrangement just added to the chain of events of how things go very wrong when they start going wrong.
They told Desmond that they had booked a different room to the one he gave them and they were none too happy when he insisted that that was the only room that they could have booked  (the others were closed for renovations).

The next morning I  printed out the confirmation e-mail to show them that they had indeed booked room 2 and Room 2 was the room that they got as it (fortunately for me!) had a number 2 on the door… And that is where things just went from bad to worse. To the point where I said to Desmond that  I wondered if I could give myself a bad review on TripAdvisor?

Over breakfast they said that the shower was not draining properly and that they therefor could not shower. I asked their permission to send our housekeeper  into the room to check out the drain while they were having breakfast. Prior to them I had guests who stayed 5 days in that room with no problem, but as we know: when things go wrong they go wrong …

I gave Liesbet a dose of bio degradable drain cleaner with instructions to pour it down the drain of Room 2 , add a liter  of boiling water, to replace wet towels and to make sure the electric towel rails were on. She came back reporting job done, but found it strange that the water ran down perfectly well and that the towels were unused and dry. Well, you guessed: Liesbet had gone into Room 1, not Room 2!  This transpired when the understandably unhappy guest  came to me with a look of exasperation on her face and frustration in her voice to tell me that the wet towels were still lying exactly on the floor as she had left it…

What more could go wrong? Desmond being Desmond answered: ‘ they could eventually have a shower and the gas bottle could empty right then”!


As a fellow guest house owner told me: ‘Only one thing to do Philda. Make yourself a cup of tea, go and find yourself a quiet spot in the garden, take your guest book and read all the gushing thank you’s and compliments about excellent service, hospitable hosts etc. etc.!!

 I still wonder if I could save the guest the trouble and give myself a bad review on TripAdvisor?

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Lesson learnt: systems, systems, systems. The staff need rules - after this incident the rule was made that in the first week of every month every drain gets a dose of 'drain clean' on the same day that the mattress gets turned. We also changed the online booking system that no bookings can be made after 3pm on the day of arrival.